LAKE WACCAMAW — For the 2nd time this week East Bladen junior Jackie Medina-Leal racked up a ‘Hat Trick’ plus 2 of 5 goals to lead her Lady Eagles to a 9-0 Waccamaw Conference girls’ soccer victory over East Columbus.
Coach Jay Raynor’s Lady Eagles remained unbeaten in Waccamaw play at 4-0 and are 5-0-1 overall. East Bladen will visit Pender Monday night. East Columbus is now 1-2 in league play and 1-3 overall.
Medina-Leal opened the scoring with a goal in the 26th minute then peppered the nets with 2 more goals before halftime. She scored again 3 minutes later then nailed another shot 2 minutes before halftime to push the lead to 3-0.
“Jackie had a great game and an awesome week,” noted Raynor. “Eleven goals in 3 games… that’s pretty impressive. Her movement off the ball helped create those chances as well as her teammates finding her.”
Medina-Leal and Gabby Rebollar were credited with 1 assist each. Heidi Rebollar and Iveonna “NeNe” Ward dished out 2 assists each.
“Heidi (Rebollar) and Zoe (Smith) were huge factors for us in midfield,” continued Raynor. “They also are gaining a better understanding of how to play together. Those two were able to distribute the ball and initiate some solid attacks for us.”
Raynor stated, “Nene had a great game for us and was able to create scoring chances for us with her speed and her 1 v 1 skills. East Columbus really layered and put numbers in the box when we were attacking. Nene was still able to keep the ball and make some plays.”
Sophomore Gabby Rebollar knocked in the first Lady Eagle goal after halftime, then senior Molly Evans fired in a pair of goals in the 52nd and 58th minutes.
East Bladen outshot the Lady Gators 9-0 in the opening half and 27-0 for the game. Medina-Leal scored again in the 62nd minute and ended the game on the mercy rule with her final goal in the 70th minute. Gabby Rebollar banged in her 2nd goal in the 65th minute.
“Gabby, Macy (Potter), and Marlee (Potter) did a great job of keeping the game in front of them,” said Raynor. “That allowed Reese (Hester) to have an uneventful night and earn the shutout. Macy did a great job with her clearances tonight. Those three girls in the back have a very high work rate and are tough as nails.”
Raynor added, “The girls played well tonight. I thought we were more composed and better prepared to deal with what our opponent and the challenges they were going to present us. We were more patient on the ball and I thought we made better decisions, especially in the second half.”
“We rushed some shots and under hit a majority of our passes in the first half,” said Raynor. “At halftime we talked about being calm on the ball as well as trusting our teammates and hitting our passes with more pace. We also discussed playing with more energy as Shania (Thurman) and Nene were playing with. We looked timid in the first half and fearful of making mistakes.”
Raynor continued, “It was good to see our attack put up numbers tonight. We moved the ball well and played within our system in the first half. At half I made the decision to switch some things up and attack with more numbers.”
“Anna (Miranda) and KK had terrific games for us as well,” noted Raynor. “Their movement off the ball and when we are transitioning from attacking to defending was spot on. Those two are our anchors in midfield and did an outstanding job. Leah (McGill) was another one who came in for us and made a difference at the holding midfield position.”
Raynor concluded, “Proud of the girls with earning the conference win but also their improvement from one game to the next game. Three games in 4 days isn’t easy. Having to face the physical challenges and being able to still play our game shows the toughness of our girls.”
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